Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy getting second opinion on arm tightness from Dr. James Andrews

Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy, shelved since March with right arm tightness, was scheduled to see renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday in Gulf Breeze, Fla., to get a second opinion on what’s causing his ongoing discomfort.

“We hope to find out that [Andrews] feels the same way that our people do [who] have looked at it,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “We’re very supportive of it.”

The organization has been deliberate with Bundy’s recovery, but the move to seek a second opinion came a day after the right-hander felt lingering discomfort while throwing from 90 feet off flat ground at the team’s spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla. It was the first time he had thrown that far since going on the seven-day minor league disabled list April 4. Bundy hasn’t pitched from a mound since late March.

Showalter said the issue first emerged after Bundy was optioned to Double-A Bowie during spring training March 16.

“The concern is that it has lingered a little bit longer than we expected it would, but we’ll see,” Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said.“I am waiting to hear from the second opinion that he got. I can give you some more information after that. Hopefully we hear something soon.”

An MRI taken at the beginning of the month showed the elbow was clean, and the Orioles believe Bundy’s injury is muscle soreness in his forearm and not related to anything involving his elbow ligament or tendon.

One theory about how the injury occurred is that Bundy began having muscle spasms as a result of how he twisted his arm as he placed the baseball in and out of his glove — a habit that he has worked to correct.

“We’ve talked to him about [how it happened], but I don’t think there’s something definitive on it from what I understand,” Showalter said. “It depends on who you ask or who you talk to. We’re more interested in getting it resolved right now. But you always look at something like that and say, ‘OK, was there something that did cause it?’ so that you keep it from happening again. You don’t completely move forward and get it resolved. You don’t want it to happen again.”

The 20-year-old Bundy is the consensus top pitching prospect in the game. He was 9-3 with a 2.08 ERA in 23 starts last year in his first pro season, going from low Class-A Delmarva to Bowie before pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings in two major league relief appearances as a late-season call-up.

“I try to take it for what it is right now and that’s that he wanted to get a second opinion just to be sure because he hoped it would resolve quicker than this,” Showalter said.